


Breakdown

by Lightshade



Series: The Cobra and The Elephant [2]
Category: To Belong
Genre: Animal Transformation, Battle, Blood, M/M, OCs - Freeform, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-02
Updated: 2019-02-02
Packaged: 2019-10-20 19:40:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17628455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lightshade/pseuds/Lightshade
Summary: Demus is captured during a mission. When the commanders of the army refuse to rescue him due to the risk, Leif forms a team to rescue him, and shows why you don't mess with a pissed-off war elephant.





	Breakdown

**Author's Note:**

> I'm at it again! I have been inspired to write at least three more works in this series. I'm not posting them all as one work because they all take place at different time periods of their lives and have different themes. If this doesn't make a lick of sense to you, go read the first work in this series. It'll explain all, but the long and the short of it is that this is a work involving OCs from the upcoming YT series To Belong, a world where every human being has an animal form. I posted all the links in the notes to Blindsided, so there you go.

_What I found in this town_  
_I'm heading for a breakdown_  
_What's that sound, you're so loud_  
_I'm heading for a breakdown_  


_Drank up all my alcohol_  
_This is not a free for all_  
_I'll be there for you_  
_'Til my heart is black and blue_  
~Breakdown, Breaking Benjamin

Leif would never admit to it, but he worried every time that Demus went on a solo mission. He was able to cover it up with an easy-going façade, but part of him worried, nonetheless. What if this was the mission Demus didn’t come back from? He couldn’t bear the thought of never seeing his best friend again, especially thinking that there might have been something he could have done to prevent it.

He was outside the tent they shared oiling his boots. Having the proper footgear was essential when he was on the frontline as much as he was, especially in his elephant form. The bottoms of his feet could get very tender at times.

He saw a raven come flying in. It was one of his old tent-mates, Turpin. He landed in front of Leif. He shifted around as if he was uneasy. “There’s news I’m to tell you.”

An old proverb came into Leif’s head unbidden: _Dark wings, dark words._ He wasn’t sure why, but he felt his stomach twist up in knots. “Well then, tell me.”

“It’s Demus…he…” The raven paused, trying to gather his words.

Leif was usually a gentle sort, but right now, he grabbed Turpin, who let out a pained squawk. He was holding him with both hands and far too tight. “Get on with it. Just tell me what happened.” He was dead, wasn’t he? That’s why Turpin hesitated. Leif wondered if this was what it felt like to have your heart break.

“He was captured during the mission to assassinate Corporal Denning. He’s been taken prisoner,” Turpin managed to get out, the air being forced out of him due to the iron grip Leif had on him.

He wasn’t dead. He wasn’t dead. That was the only thought that penetrated Leif’s mind. He seemed to have forgotten everything, including the fact he was still squeezing the life out of poor Turpin. But then the rest of the message hit him. A prisoner of war? Gods no! He got up, finally releasing his grip on Turpin. “Have the commanders said what they’re going to do to get him back?”

Turpin ruffled his wings, trying to put his feathers back in some sort of order. “No, but—” He didn’t get any other words out as Leif rushed by him, making a beeline for the commanders’ tent, where they usually strategized and planned their attacks.

He burst in there without any form of decorum. None of the men seemed surprised to see him. They likely had been expecting this for some time now. Leif immediately asked what was going to happen. The answer he got was not one he expected.

“What do you mean you’re not going after him?” Leif all but snarled. He was such an even-keeled soldier that it was a surprise to see him this angry and passionate. His commanders had never seen this side of him before.

“He took the mission knowing the risk,” the sergeant in charge said. Leif glared at him. Mulligan had never been fond of Demus, ever since the first day they’d met when Demus had threatened to bite him.

“So, you’re just going to leave one of your soldiers in the hands of the enemy because it’s inconvenient for you to get him back?” Leif snapped.

“Don’t put words in my mouth,” Mulligan said. “We don’t even know if he’s alive. If he is, we can always negotiate a prisoner exchange at the—”

Leif slammed his hands down on the wooden desk in the commanders’ tent. “That’s not good enough!” It was easy to see the war elephant in him right now, how he was charging in headlong and trying to stomp over anything that got in his way.

The porcupine sitting in the general’s chair finally spoke up, rattling his quills to get Leif’s attention. “Son, I understand you’re worried. But there’s a chain of protocol we need to follow. We just can’t go blindly charging in, especially for one soldier, no matter how valuable he is. That’s not just how things are done.”

“So instead you’re just going to leave him there to suffer!” Leif yelled. In war, one couldn’t expect the enemy’s side to treat their prisoners to a hot meal and warm bed. It wouldn’t be beyond them to hold the snake in a cold cell, hoping the iciness of it would cause him to break and talk.

He whirled on his heel, not waiting for dismissal from any of the higher-ranking officers. If they weren’t going to get Demus back, he was. He was already forming a plan in his head. The first two he recruited was Turpin and Emmerit, the two soldiers they’d shared a tent with for many years until Demus had used his clout to get them one of their own. “Of course, we’ll help,” Emmerit said. “After all we’ve been through, you two are like family to us.” A raven and a rhino were a good start, but they needed more firepower.

So, Leif went hunting for those that could help them. He wasn’t stupid enough to broadcast this through the whole camp, but he did know there was always soldiers eager for the fight. He found a tiger named Axel and a grizzly named Bennett. They were going to need a lot of brute strength if this plan was to go off. Two carnivores would provide a lot of that raw power. Finally, he found a horse named Theo. He was to search the camp if they couldn’t immediately find Demus.

“Y’know, even if we do get him back, they might hang us all for insubordination and deserting,” Turpin observed, sitting on the broad perch that was Emmerit’s shoulder.

“Let’s focus on one thing at a time. We can spell our doom later,” Leif said. His whole mind was focused on Demus. He was either going to get him back or collapse with a dozen bullet holes in his thick hide. There was no retreat. He’d never been one much for planning, but he had a rough one in mind. Turpin was to fly overhead, find out what he could, and tell them the general layout of the camp. The four main animals would cause as much damage as they could while Theo looked for where Demus might be kept.

He sent Turpin first to overlook the camp. They had already decided a night attack would give them the greatest advantage. It also would provide little opportunity for the enormous black raven to be spotted against the night sky and shot down. He returned to Leif, giving a detailed report on what he had seen. This was what he’d been trained for. “They’ve got their tents in a spiral pattern, with the supply wagons braced along one side. They’re facing the woods and they’ve posted a few sentries. As far as commanders go, there’s one general, four sergeants, and a corporal. The rest seem to be rank-and-file.”

“Good job,” Leif said, ruffling Turpin on top of the head affectionately. He had a plan in his head. “I’ll take Emmerit, Axel, and Bennett with me to cause some trouble in the main camp. Theo, when you see a chance, find out where Demus is being held, and get him out of there. Turpin, I want you to watch our backs. If things go south, get out of here, and go inform our commanding officers what happened. If everything goes as planned, make sure our escape isn’t followed.”

Everyone seemed to be clear on what was to go on. All of them agreed on a predesignated point to meet up at. They left their clothes and supplies there. When they got close, he sent Axel and Bennett to take out the sentries quietly. Then it was time to announce their arrival in a big way. Large as he was, the forest still provided good cover for an elephant that had just shifted. Now was the moment to attack.

Leif let out an earth-shattering trumpet with his trunk that was sure to get the attention of every man in the camp. There was a very good reason why both sides were eager to recruit elephants as soldiers: they were devastating in sheer power and strength. Leif charged straight ahead and then proceeded to smash, break, or destroy anything that was within reach of his feet or trunk. The soldiers had been unprepared for the sight of a fourteen-thousand-pound animal suddenly start rampaging through the camp. Some immediately had the foresight to shift forms or grab their weapons, but most simply got the hell out of the way.

One brave soldier got his gun up for a headshot, only to find himself lifted up by Leif’s trunk. He threw him as hard as he could. The man went sailing through the air and would have gone a record distance if there hadn’t been a very sturdy oak tree in his path. Needless to say, he would not be getting up again.

“Is that all you’ve got?” Leif taunted, the thunder of battle in his large ears. He could feel bones and muscles torn under his feet as he simply ran over those who weren’t able to get out of the way in time. He used his tusks and trunk to their full advantage, flipping over a fully-loaded supply wagon.

Some of the soldiers began to form a firing squad to take down what appeared to be the lone elephant. That’s when the other three struck. Emmerit charged the group, slamming men into the ground under his feet, or tossing them asunder with his horn.

The grizzly immediately went for anyone who had shifted, catching a jaguar right in the face with its paw, ensuring that he was taken out of the fight for good. He was soon set upon by a polar bear and the two began fighting their way through the camp, slamming into supply wagons, and tearing down anything that wasn’t as solid as a rock in their path. They weren’t making much progress, their thick fur preventing any real damage, until Bennett took a cheap shot at the other bear’s legs. It was a dirty move, but who had ever said war was fair?

Finally getting the better of the polar bear, he slammed the larger white ursine into a boulder. Something broke with an audible _Snap!_ and the bear sunk down, unable to continue the fight. Bennett immediately went next for a Komodo dragon. Though the dragon was smaller, its rancid bite made it a tricky opponent. Even a small chomp from it could lead to swift infection in the next few hours.

Axel knocked over a gas lamp onto a tent as he ran swiftly from the gunfire following him. It landed on some straw. Pretty soon, there was a raging fire going on in the background of everything else. This divided the men’s attention as it headed straight for their supply train. The horses in the group immediately shifted and were hooked up to try and save whatever they could.

One of them couldn’t stand the sights and sounds before him anymore. When the fire reached the back of his cart, he went into a screaming fit and reared up, before taking off in a mad dash. The panic spread quickly. Soon, both animals and men were running around without any rhyme or reason. It was the perfect opportunity for Theo to enter. No one noticed one lone paint horse running through the camp. He shifted back and forth as he checked the most likely spaces to be holding captives  
.  
Demus was in a glass cage with a solid metal top bolted down to keep him from escaping. There were a few air holes punched into the top so he could breathe. He’d been listening to the action outside but was unable to see anything. Theo made a mad dash into the tent and stopped up short, hooves skidding into the dirt. “I’m here to rescue you,” he said. Demus didn’t question it. Any rescue at this point was welcome. “Stand back,” Theo ordered. He turned around and shattered the glass with his hooves. Demus gingerly slithered his way out, avoiding the worst of the sharp shards.

“Alright, let’s go,” Theo said, turning to go.

“Wait! We can’t leave them behind,” Demus said. Throughout the tent was a motley assortment of men and animals also being held captive. There was a great many birds and other animals that were not so impressive at fighting, things like dogs, cats, and lizards. It was small wonder that their forces had decided that they weren’t worth the risk. Demus had clearly been their most valuable prisoner.

“We really don’t have time for this,” Theo argued, but there was no stopping Demus once he had his mind set up on something.

Then there was another trumpeting roar from Leif. “I think we do,” Demus replied. He slithered out of the tent and soon returned with a set of keys in his mouth. He handed them over to one of the soldiers that had hands that could work them. “Quickly now. Everyone needs to hurry!”

It was fortunate that most of the birds were being held in a single cramped birdcage. One key opened it and out they all went. Next were the specialty chains and enclosures designed to hold the animal forms. Finally, they turned to the men, who had the least secure shackles out of all of them. “Go now! Meet on the far edge of the treeline,” Theo said. The freed prisoners immediately scattered. With luck, most of them would make it. The soldiers still had bigger things on their plate to deal with right now.

Leif hoped that Theo found Demus soon. While the chaos was still to their advantage, there was still a group of dedicated soldiers fighting on. He felt a stinging pain in his left hind leg and knew he’d been shot. Well, it would take more than that to put down this particular pachyderm. He snatched another soldier with his trunk, and with unerring aim, threw him directly into a burning tent.

He looked around. Emmerit was taking out supply wagons, though judging from the pattern of blood on him, he too had been shot.

Axel was struggling with a wolf that was fighting him. He looked the worst off, bite marks all over his torso and front legs. Still, the massive tiger used his superior strength wrestle the wolf to the ground, and bit his neck hard, tearing out his throat. The grizzly was walloping any animal that got within distance. Several of the soldiers seemed to think he was the easiest target and had all taken him on together. There was a black panther, a crocodile, and a kangaroo facing him now. If they didn’t get out of there soon, he’d soon be overwhelmed.

Then Theo came galloping up. Close behind him was Demus slithering and an assortment of the soldiers they’d freed. Axel limped over, his stripes speckled all the way through with blood. “I thought we were just freeing one person. Where’d all these others come from?”

“Explain later. Run now!” Theo said.

Leif picked up Demus and placed him on his head with his trunk. At least he’d know exactly where he was. “Retreat!” He bellowed out at his small group. Emmerit and Bennett stopped what they were doing, pausing only to finish off their current opponents. All of them went crashing into the woods, leaving a very clear trail. Whether anyone would feel brave enough to follow them was another question.

Demus flattened himself against the elephant’s head so that he wouldn’t be smacked off by a stray branch. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you that enthusiastic about a battlefield.” Demus was the one with the bloodthirsty streak. Leif had always been the kinder of the two.

“Yeah, well, I had good motivation this time,” Leif replied.

When they were far enough away that it appeared no pursuit was coming, they finally stopped, and made their way to the point they’d chosen in advance to meet up at. Then it was time to take stock of what had gone on. Almost all the soldiers freed had managed to follow them, except for perhaps a few of the birds that had winged their own way back to the camp, and several of the slower animals, which had decided to hide themselves until they had a better opportunity to escape the chaos of the camp.

Leif shifted back to his human form, threw a cloak on, and then started examining the soldiers, heedless of his own injuries, which took up much more room on his smaller human body. Turpin had gotten off without a scratch, seeing as how he’d been using as a scout. He assured Leif that there was no pursuit coming that he could see. Theo likewise had almost no injuries aside from some rocks that had been mashed securely into his hooves.

It was himself and the three main fighters who had sustained the most injuries. There were bullets embedded all along the rhino’s thick hide. They wouldn’t be so bad in his current form but shifting back meant there’d be a great chance of bleeding out. Bennett had sustained some bad cuts and bites, mostly to his paws and side. Axel was the worst off. He had a lot of gashes and bite marks all along his face and rib cage, plus a few gunshot wounds. With the adrenaline wearing off, it was clear they weren’t going to get back to camp

“Is anyone here a medic?” 

A Dalmatian came bounding forward, followed by an aye aye that scuttled down from one of the trees. The Dalmatian spoke for both of them. “We are, sir.”

“See if you can get us patched up well enough to get back to camp.” They went to work, the Dalmatian shifting to his human form, and the aye aye following close behind. With his thin, delicate fingers as an animal, he was perfect for deftly extracting bullets or claws that had been ripped into the skin during the fight. The aye aye began to work on Emmerit and the bullets embedded in his hide began to slowly be coaxed out. They didn’t have a lot of tools at their disposal, but they would do the best they could with what they had.

Leif was so focused on making sure everyone else was safe that he failed to notice the bleeding from his own injuries getting worse, not until Demus blocked his path. “Sit down,” he ordered.

“There’s too much left to do,” Leif said. He was in charge of this campaign and it was his job to make sure everyone got back safely.

“You’re gonna bleed out if you don’t get your injuries taken care of. Sit down and let the medics work on you. Or I’ll _make_ you sit down.” Leif knew that Demus’ threats were hardly ever idle and always creative when he made good on them. 

So Leif sat down and the aye aye began prodding at his left leg. Despite the giant eyes that made the creature always look like he was in a permanent state of surprise, he was rather calm. “Most went through and through. We’ll stop the bleeding in those.” The bullets left inside would have to wait, lest they tore up more of his leg muscles.

After Leif was patched up to the dog and aye aye’s satisfaction, they were ready to move on, as he’d been the last patient. They slowly headed back to camp. Turpin rested on Emmerit’s back. Once again, he made the same remark he had at the start of the mission. “You know, they might still hang us all for disobeying orders when we get back.”

“The hell they will,” Demus said. His best friend had just risked his life, injury, and his career to save him. He wasn’t going to let them kill him to prove a point.

When they got back to camp, the whole place was buzzing with activity. From what little they could gather; their absence had been noticed in a big way. With four of their main frontline soldiers, a reconnaissance bird, and a rank-and-file horse all missing, things had become much more serious. Apparently, they were preparing to go after the enemy camp in retaliation, sure that they had all perished in the attempt to rescue the lone cobra.

The wounded soldiers were immediately rushed to the medical unit and set upon by the medics there. Leif was getting his injuries properly bandaged with the bullets now removed from his leg when the commanders walked in. Demus hadn’t left his side since they’d been reunited during the battle.

Mulligan spent a full ten minutes yelling at him, calling him a mutinous, ungrateful, idiotic man who should’ve been demoted to be a beast of burden for the rest of their campaign. Leif took it all in stolidly. He didn’t care what happened to him as long as Demus was safe. At least it didn’t appear they were going to hang him or put him in front of a firing squad.

Then the general came shuffling up in that curious waddle that porcupines were known to possess. He had a cooler head than his sergeant “This was a foolhardy stunt and it could have gone badly wrong. Any number of you could have been killed during it. What I should do is put all six of you in isolation for the next three months, but this has been great for morale. Some civilian field mice and sparrows saw the whole thing. They’ve been retelling the tale in the nearest village over and over again now for hours. The soldiers are all already turning it into a tall tale.” Every campaign needed their heroes to keep the men going and it looked like they were turning Leif’s impulsive act into a romantic and heroic tale of rescue. “In addition, that was one of their main supply camps, and almost all of the supply wagons were lost during the battle, plus a large number of their frontline fighting animals. Not to mention how you rescued an entire tentful worth of POWs.”

“What does that mean for me, General? Punish me however you want but keep the other men out of it. They only went along with it because I asked them to.”

The porcupine brought a paw up to his mouth, gnawing on a claw thoughtfully for a moment. “Latrine duty for three months.” Before Leif could recover from his shock at such a light punishment, the general went on. “I’m also putting forth the recommendation of citing your men for the Crossed Paws Medal of Valor, bronze and silver class. You will be recommended for the gold. Those that were wounded in action will also receive the Fiery Crown Award for those injured during combat.”

Leif remained silent until Demus tapped him with his tail so that he would remember his proper manners. “I—Thank you very much, sir. The honor is more than I could have hoped for.”

“Yes, I know,” the porcupine said airily. “Rest up now, men. We’ve still got a long campaign ahead of us.”

Leif wasn’t sure if it was the heady knowledge that he was being rewarded for disobedience or the painkiller drugs they’d given him, but he was on a cloud the rest of the day. When he was proclaimed well enough, he was allowed to go back to his tent.

Demus was there and lying down in his human form. He propped himself up on his elbows when Leif came in. “How’s the conquering hero?”

Leif threw one of his boots at his friend without any real heat behind the measure. “As if I did all this for glory. I only wanted to rescue you.” He flopped down beside Demus, staring up at him.

Demus cocked his head in the way he did when trying to puzzle something out. “Yeah and that was a really stupid idea. You risked everything for me. Why?”

Leif looked up into his friend’s green eyes, their intensity still not dimmed even after all these years. His heart was pounding in his chest. Maybe it was the intensity of the entire campaign catching up to him. Maybe it was the fact he hadn’t slept in twenty-four hours. Or maybe he just wanted to finally be honest. The words that came tumbling out of his mouth were, “Because I love you, you idiot.”

He waited for Demus to respond, afraid that maybe he’d messed everything up between them. But then Demus ducked his head down and kissed him softly on the lips. Leif leaned up into it until his best friend finally broke it off. “How long?” was all he asked.

Leif traced his fingers through Demus’ black hair, which was curling down the back of his neck since it hadn’t been cut for months. “A long time now. Why do you think I joined up with you? I wasn’t going stay home and worry with you out of my sight for years on end. I was going to make sure I was here with you every minute to keep you safe.”

Demus responded by kissing Leif again, this time with enough passion to take his breath away. “That’s proof of how much I love you back. I’m glad you finally said something. And I can think of no one I’d want more to love me than you.” Tired out from the events of the past night and early day, Leif rested his head on Demus’ chest, with the cobra’s arms wrapped around him. Soon, they had both fallen into a peaceful sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> For those who are wondering why the aye aye would be sticking his dirty, unwashed fingers to probe for injuries and remove bullets, here's the reason why. This world is based loosely on Victorian England, and as hard as it is to believe, back then most doctors didn't believe in germ theory. When President Garfield was assassinated, they put him on a dirty mattress a few minutes afterward, and doctors were sticking their fingers right into the wound without even washing them with soap and water. It's now widely thought that the infection that resulted is what killed him rather than the bullet wound itself. The idea of sanitizing fingers and instruments was a revolutionary concept and most doctors didn't believe in it, considering it to be a radical idea with no basis in reality. So yeah, while it's not sanitary and most of the men will be lucky not to get infections, it is true to the time period.


End file.
